Think Outside the Box Set

A podcast about learning to appreciate an artist’s back catalog.

About the show

Your hosts Nathan Hunt and Cameron DeWhitt explore artists that have achieved renown or success, but that for some reason are unfamiliar. For example, do you know anyone who’s listened to an entire Garth Brooks or Insane Clown Posse album all the way through? We don’t! So we decided to listen to all of them.

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Episode List

In 2012, ICP released their album The Mighty Death Poop, the second card in the second hand of Jokers Cards. …it's not bad. There are a few good songs on The Mighty Beth Pop, but lots of them are kinda mediocre, and a couple are just straight up bad. Like that one that reminds us of the shitty movie Taken.

Nathan's getting punchy this week, because he didn't really enjoy ICP's many versions of their 2009 album Bang! Pow! Boom!. It's not that it's bad, it's just… the shine is wearing off a little bit. ICP's been releasing these albums over almost 20 years, but we've been mainlining them for three months. Is Nathan finally starting to crack?

ICP continues a string of more-or-less enjoyable albums with their 10th studio release The Tempest. Nathan had a great time listening to it and maintains that it's ICP's best album yet, while Cameron is unconvinced (and bored). Freed from their first hand of Jokers Cards, ICP cuts loose and has fun with this one.

ICP released the second part of their Joker's Card about The Wraith, which has… no Wraith in it? That's OK, though, because Cameron and Nathan still have plenty to talk about, including non-funky crows, Dr. Oz®'s patented Drano Cleanse™, and Cameron's highly erotic thigh-unveiling.

Here it is: Insane Clown Posse’s holy testimony 🙏✝️🙏. ICP reveals that they’re secret Christians, the Dark Carnival is God, and that they’re not sorry if they tricked you. Just like that weird kid at school who tried to make friends with you only to ask you to something called “youth group”, ICP has apparently had an ulterior motive all long. But, as they say, “why should the devil get all the good music?”

ICP's 2000 album Bizzar is a return to form, but better! This is their best one so far, which makes it really fun to talk about. But for some reason, Cameron and Nathan still stall and digress into such topics as Amy Grant's slay rides, Digimon (digital monsters), and Archie's full-throated complaint that "JUGHEAD ATE ALL MY PIZZA."

ICP strikes back! …into our hearts, with their 2000 album Bizaar. Yes, you read that right: not bazaar, and not bizarre, but Biza'ar! It's one part of their album duo Bizaar/Bizzar, which Cameron helpfully points out are neither "correct" spellings of any of those words. Thanks, Cameron.

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers dropped in 1999, and dropped our hearts with it. After the success of The Great Milenko, Insane Clown Posse faced a lot more attention in the mainstream media—which brought more scrutiny and much more criticism. ICP struck back with The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, which features a lot more sincere anger and less goofy clowning.

Cameron and Nathan continue to investigate the music—nay, the phenomenon—of the Insane Clown Posse, with their 1997 album The Great Milenko. Along the way, they digress a lot, ending up talking about mom’s spaghetti and other fine foodstuffs. It's not so much that they don't like the album or anything, it's more that they find it very hard to remain on-topic.

Bonobo societies, Monster Mashes for the 90s, the Jokester of Dark Knight fame, and little juggalinos—it’s all a part of Cameron and Nathan’s discussion of Riddle Box, Insane Clown Posse’s third album!

Join us as we wind the crank and see what kinds of songs play, and as we answer the big questions—like, is ICP the spiritual heir to French poet Charles Baudelaire? Probably not, but maybe!

Nathan and Cameron listen to ICP’s second album, Cameron invents old-time ICP music, George Washington’s teeth fall out, and Theo has a juggalo birthday. It’s all part of the kooky karnival fun of The Ringmaster!

The Ringmaster, Insane Clown Posse’s second album, is a big step up musically from The Carnival of Carnage. It has less misogyny, though there’s still a non-zero amount. It probably could’ve been shorter, though.

Merry Christmas, everyone! It's a very special heartwarming episode dedicated to Garf's very special Christmas album Beyond the Season. Recorded live in Chicago on Thanksgiving, Cameron and Nathan are joined by Ashley Bowman, Becca DeWhitt, and Rachel Y.

Say it with us, in a real real spoooOOOOoooky voice: "I WANNA PLAY A GAME." That's right! It's time to choose the artist we investigate after Garf, and what better way than with a horrifying, flesh-rending, gruesome carnival of carnage? Just call Nathan "Jigsaw," baby, cuz it's about to get all Saw up in here.